Expert's Rating

Price when reviewed

£149.95 inc VAT

The Nocs NS600 Crush is a new edition to the Nocs range of earphones that aim to blend high-quality construction and design with great sound. See also: Audio reviews.

The Nocs NS600 Crush website claims the earbuds “delivers a superior full-range sound complete with impressive highs, compelling mids and an exceptionally full and rich bass”. So does it? Our NS600 review delivered some interesting results. See also: Group test - what are the best headphones?

Inside the box you get the earphones, a set of bud adaptors, a carrying case and Airplane adaptor. The earphones have the standard remote and mic buttons on the cable (which is made of Kevlar and doesn’t have some of the audio ‘rubbing’ that you find on cheaper components). The quality of components is pretty high across the board with stainless steel. Take a look at Thinksound ts02+mic review (2012).

They’re a nice looking set of earphones too. The box proudly proclaims that they are designed in Stockholm, Sweden. We’re not sure why this is a selling point (did Sweden suddenly become a design epicentre?) But they have a quality to the construction and finish that is welcome. Visit Sennheiser Amperior headphones.

The earphone technology consists of a tweeter for highs and woofer for bass (two drivers per earphone) so they should deliver much better sound than most entry-level earphones.

The Nocs NS600 Crush are a lot like the NS400 but with improved bass. We found them great for electronic and dance music (anything with a beat and bass), but not so hot for traditional rock and folk. The sound is incredibly clear and bassy, which can sound either brilliant (Human League, Pet Shop Boys, and especially something like Deadmau5 with lots of bass or high-ends ) or somewhat murky (all jokes aside, U2 and Coldplay both sounded pretty poor). The midrange suffers at the expense of exceptional high and bass performance.

So a lot depends on the type of music you’re looking for. At £150 you could be especially wary of a pair of earphones that don’t deliver on all fronts, and opt for something like the Etymotic HF3’s instead (which offer a clearer, more accurate sound). But we will say that if you veer towards dance music and want something that merges clarity of high-ends with a bit of kick towards the bass these are a better choice.

In the range they sit between the Nocs NS400 Titanium and the also-new NS800s which have a Balanced Armature rather than the tweeter and woofer combination. We haven’t tested these yet but it may be that these offer greater clarity for a wider range of music.

Nocs NS600 Crush: Specs

Drivers: 5.78 mm titanium coated diaphragm, 8.0 mm custom duo magnet

Sensitivity: 110 dB SPL @ 1 kHz

Impedance: 20 Ohm @ 1 kH

Frequency: 20 Hz – 20 kHz

Housing: Sandblasted Aluminum

Cord length: 1.2 m

Sleeves: Silicone

Y-Split: Thermoplastic Elastomers – TPE

Cords: Kevlar, Copper, TPE

Cord holder: TPE

Strain Reliefs: TPE

1 year replacement warranty

Drivers: 5.78 mm titanium coated diaphragm, 8.0 mm custom duo magnet

Sensitivity: 110 dB SPL @ 1 kHz

Impedance: 20 Ohm @ 1 kH

Frequency: 20 Hz – 20 kHz

Housing: Sandblasted Aluminum

Cord length: 1.2 m

Sleeves: Silicone

Y-Split: Thermoplastic Elastomers – TPE

Cords: Kevlar, Copper, TPE

Cord holder: TPE

Strain Reliefs: TPE

1 year replacement warranty

OUR VERDICT

If you’re into dance and electronic music then these headphones deliver exceptional quality. They’re not cheap though, and if you have a wider taste in music you should probably go for something a little more accurate.